


First Impressions

by adamsgirl42 (eddiessofa)



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M, Winterhawk Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-24 20:24:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4934083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eddiessofa/pseuds/adamsgirl42
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky and Clint meet, it doesn't go well.  They eventually work it out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Impressions

**Author's Note:**

> For WinterHawk Week, also terribly late.
> 
> Day 2- Hate at First Sight

Hate is a strong word and not one he used very often but he hates that guy. Who the fuck just walks into Avengers’ tower and assumes they are the new team sniper? Clint already has it covered, thanks for stopping by and don’t let JARVIS have the door hit you on the way out. Barnes had no fucking right to just saunter in and try to replace him. Clint brought shit to the table, he was useful dammit.

Yeah he’d been down for the count after Loki but he had things going on, he still avenged. He took on the mob, by himself. Well Kate helped. Still, had Barnes ever taken on the mob? No, no he hasn’t. All Barnes does is smirk and wink and try to tell Cap about better sight lines. Clint had that covered. Of course Cap took Barnes’ side, no matter what Clint said about wind variations at the height. Barnes just listened to Clint’s VERY legitimate reasons for choosing a different perch and said that if Clint wasn’t sure he could do the job then maybe he should step aside. And Cap just looked at Clint all doe eyed and asked if he minded Bucky taking this one.

Which fine, Clint could share but fuck Barnes for acting like Clint wasn’t good enough. Now he was back at his apartment in Bed-Stuy not being overly dramatic. Okay? He was being as dramatic as the situation called for.

He was also not dramatically making coffee. So, when he spilled it in his haste, that was an accident and unrelated to the ranting.

“Aww coffee no.”

Clint was just finished cleaning the spill when he heard a knock at the door. He figured it would be Tasha, fresh off the mission, checking on him. She knew he didn’t like being left behind, even if she never outright said anything. According to Tasha, his worst quality was low self esteem, followed closely by his sense of humor.

To his surprise Cap was at the door.

“Clint, hey.”

“Cap,coffee?” he asked, leaving the door open when he walked back to the kitchen.

“No, thank you. I won’t be staying long. I don’t want to interrupt.”

Clint scoffed, “Not much to interrupt.”

The stricken look on Steve’s face made him instantly feel bad for the comment. He could try and hold back the bitterness.

Steve cleared his throat, “about that.”

Clint had never seen Steve look more uncomfortable. At least, not without Tony present.

“About earlier,” he started again. “Bucky can be a bit much. Thank you for letting him take this callout. He really needs to get out in the field and see he can still use his skills for good. I appreciate you being gracious.”

He looked so fucking earnest, if Tasha had said it Clint would have called her out on the blatant manipulation. Steve just looked stressed out.

Clint really didn’t know what to say, so he tried nodding.

“We aren’t replacing you,” Steve blurted.

“Course, Cap.” Because Clint was pretty sure they didn’t intend to but soon The Winter freakin’ Super Soldier would be filling all his slots. It made sense even, Barnes was much less breakable. Hell, Clint would wanna upgrade too if he could.

“Thanks.” What the hell else was he supposed to say?

“Buck is still in temp status with the team. Once he is cleared, we have a few other people we want to sign on. To make teams.”

“Yeah Cap, no worries,” Clint tried with a smile. Anything to end the awkward fest.

Steve smiled, “Great, I’m going to go but team night is Tuesday. Don’t forget.”

Why would he forget? The team had team night EVERY Tuesday, as Tuesday was a historically low crime day or Thor and Cap stopped pulling punches if bonding was interrupted. One of those was definitely the reason. Unless Barnes was also going to usurp dip making duties then all was good.

“Right. See you at 7 with my dip.”

“About that, Buck has this dip from back in our time that my mom used to make.”

Clint swallowed his rage, “Should be awesome. Can’t wait.”

He was going to murder that asshole. Slowly.

“We could always more dip though, you know I will always eat more. Super metabolism and all,” Steve hurried to reassure him.

Clint started herding Steve towards the door, he just wanted this hell to be over.  
“I’m glad you stopped by Cap. I will see you soon,” Clint smiled and opened the door.

Steve looked like he had doubt. Still he was clearly raised right because he started out the door.

“I really think you and Buck will get along. You have a lot in common.”

“Sure. See you Tuesday.” Clint offered a final small wave before closing the door, keeping the sigh inside as long as possible. The super soldier would be able to hear it on the other side of the door. Finally he heard Steve move towards the hall and to the stairs.

Clint was almost done with coffee clean up and rebrewing when he felt Tasha’s stare in the middle of his shoulders.

“You want?”

“Of Course,” Tasha was seated at his bar when he turned from the counter.

Clint poured her a cup before drinking directly from the pot. Already the day looked better.

“We are not replacing you.”

“Shit, just put it all the hell out there.”

“There is no reason for you to be foolish. The Captain is simply trying to help his oldest friend.”

“Does his friend have my skill set? He is even bringing fucking dip. I bring the dip on this team.”

“You are more than just dip and your skills are very different. James has much better hand to hand than you,” she says firmly but like the conversation is already boring her, like he should know better.

“I fucking hate this guy. He tried to tell me how to shoot and mine hand to hand is just fine, Clint said in an angry burst.

“He made the shot from the building he chose.”

“Who’s fucking side are you on? You think he’s better than me now?”

“I am always on your side, even when you are not. James simply has different skills. He used a rifle which was not as affected by wind as our bow can be.”

Shit but Tasha didn’t make the bitter pill any easier to swallow. 

“Well thanks for the pep talk. Try not to let the window hit you on the way out.”

With friends like these, who needs the mob?

“You cannot push me away. I am not saying he is better than you, Maybe he was better for this mission but maybe not. You would have chosen a perch further away and lower to the ground so extraction would have been simpler. You are different.”

It's not that Clint didn’t hear her but he knew what different meant. It was another word for wrong, for freak, for less.

Clint let out a short breath, “Yeah Tash, you’re right.”

The first thing he learned was how to hide, starting with his drunk daddy then from social services. He learned how to hide what he felt, who he was, where the bruises were and how to conceal his soft spots. The circus taught him how to convince an audience; it taught him to hide his doubt and to make that confidence look real.

Natasha narrowed her eyes, she knew it wasn’t that easy. she stood and walked over to him, placing a hand on his cheek and looked into his eyes.

“You are one of us, little bird. Barnes is too, now. Families have many members,”

Clint let out a little smile, looking back to Tasha with faith he didn’t feel, “Thanks.”

Natasha gave him one more suspicious glance before setting down her empty mug.

“Remember what I said. Do not do anything stupid.”

“Do I ever?”

“Constantly,” she gave him an affectionate head slap and turned to leave.

He kept the coming anxiety tamped down. He wasn’t going to let this fuckface just replace him. As much as running away, trying to outrun the rejection, sounded good right now. Clint didn’t think they would just let him go. They were too good of people for that. Probably too good for him. The Avengers wouldn’t just let him leave, they would just politely sideline him. Clint would become the number one bench warmer. 

He was just going to have to try harder, fight longer and keep the hell up with a super soldier.

xxxxxxxxx

“Barton, stay after please. Everyone else I need your reports by 1500,” Coulson smiled blandly as the rest of the Avengers shuffled out. Cap hesitated at the door.

Clint shot him a smile, “I’ll be fine. Coulson hasn’t murdered me yet so my odds are good.”

“Actually, Barton, the Captain will be joining us,” Coulson said, as he sat down across the table from Clint.

Cap sat next to Coulson after locking the door. A unified front never went well for Clint. Shit.

Clnt felt panic bubbling up in him. This was it, they were going to let him go. He checked the exits, looking for a quick way out. He wouldn’t be able to handle it if they were nice about it. Couldn’t they just let him know via e-mail? Not that he checked his e-mail but still a fucking text would be better than this.

The shittiest part was that he’d been trying so damn hard. His numbers were better than ever. He was staying out of medical, mostly taking care of himself. He’d been doing everything to compete with Barnes. It still wasn’t going to be enough. He still failed. Shit. Fucking hell.

“Clint,” Cap said.

Aww Cap no, don’t sound kind.

“We are concerned about you,” Coulson finished with less kindness than Cap and more suspicion.

Wait. what?

“What?” Clint asked. He was probably cocking his head like a puppy.

“You’ve been pushing yourself too hard, not going to medical. What is wrong?” Coulson sounded almost worried.

“Nothing.” Shit, he always fucked it up somehow. 

“You’ve been different. I’ve noted an increase in your range hours. Are you even sleep?”

Clint looked from Cap to Coulson. Coulson had been his handler for years, many of which had been just them with Natasha joining later. He couldn’t believe Coulson was attacking him in front of Cap. Trying to get Clint to show his belly.

“I sleep. If I’m using SHIELD’s resources too much then I can go elsewhere,” Clint kept his voice calm and even. He just had to bide his time. soon he could leave, go lick his wounds and figure out a plan.

“Captain, I think I need to speak to Barton alone.”

Steve stood up and nodded at them before leaving.

Once the door was closed, Coulson looked at him hard, “Barton, Clint talk to me. You’ve always been above the bar but this, this is pushing yourself, it's dangerous. The Captain tells me you don’t go to team things unless mandatory. You’ve become a model employee. I’m worried.”

Clint swallowed down bile, what the hell was good enough?

“Sir, I’m just trying to be the best teammate I can be.”

“You aren’t being you. You’re pulling away, even from me and Tasha. I thought you came to us when there was an issue.”

Clint could tell beneath the calm, blank face that he was hurt. Awww Coulson, no. Clint was already trying so hard and he was tired. Hell maybe he should give up. If the last three weeks weren’t enough then it was probably time to turn in his bow and go. Well not his actual bow just his proverbial bow, maybe his ID card. Only his SHIELD ID though, he got discounts with his Avengers one.

“Is this about Bucky? Because Cap and Natasha both assured me they had spoken to you,” Coulson pressed on. 

Clint snorted.

“Everyone else has help, you know.”

Clint jerked his gaze from the table to Coulson’s eyes.

“What?”

“Thor and Stark both fly, Steve and Natasha both handle most of the hand to hand. We all help with the Hulk. You can’t see every direction at all times. An extra set of eyes and someone else up high could be really great. Not to mention how good it is if one of you gets injured or was away.”

Clint let that sink in. so, not a replacement, according to Coulson.

“But Cap said they were sending me away, to a new team.”

Coulson sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Why didn’t you come to me? Did you think I would ever send you away.”

Before Clint could protest, Coulson held up a silencing finger and continued speaking.

“The Captain isn’t wrong but it won’t be different teams. Not permanent ones. We’ve been trying to recruit other exceptional people, mutants and others. We want to make an asset pool of super heroes to assemble. Each threat will be met by a tailored team with the specific abilities merited for the problem. It was always the long term goal, Barnes has nothing to do with it.

Clint looked back down at his hands, trying to think of something to say. He trusted Coulson to always give him the truth. He nodded.

“Good, because I need you to trust me on this. You’re going to be working with Barnes and you have to be able to trust each other. The last thing you need is a stupid misunderstanding to dent your relationship. You guys have a mission.”

“Boss!”

“You should've come to me sooner. Now relax, you’ll be fine. It’s only surveillance. You won’t even need to compare guns.”

He said guns but Clint got the feeling he meant dicks.

“Isn’t this what we pay junior agents for? I was pretty sure you kept her solely for my weapon.”

“None of them have to be locked in a small place to talk about their feelings,” Coulson said with a smirk.

He didn’t know if Coulson just enjoyed his pain or just happy to see him acting more like himself. 

“But I’m your favorite, I don’t have feelings,” Clint protested.

“Natasha is my favorite. And it was either this or group therapy. There would be songs. I can’t have my two best snipers at each other’s throats.”

“I’m still your favorite sniper though.”

“You leave at 0700. Pack for cold weather.” 

“Coulson you know I’m your favorite. You can admit it. I won’t tell anyone.”  
“Out. Go pack,” Coulson’s voice was firm but Clint could see a smile.

Clint gave a small wave and headed out of the door. 0700 meant that he should just use base quarters. He would have to be up at 3:30 to make it in from Bed-Stuy otherwise. Regardless he would still have to go back to the apartment and come back in the afternoon. On the ride back home, he checked his StarkPad for mission details. It felt like a waste of time to go all the way back home but he had to do more than pack, he also had to drop off Lucky with a neighbor.

0700 was still early, even if being on base meant waking up at 5:30 instead of 3:30.

Walking into the conference room for the mission brief, Clint expected to be first. He was looking forward to drinking his coffee in peace before anyone else arrived. Unfortunately, Barnes was already seated and sitting in Clint’s favorite spot to top it off. It offered the best sight lines and the only thing at your back was the wall. The second best seat was directly next to it. So, his options became sitting next to Barnes or feeling wide open the whole damn meeting.

Clint sighed and accepted his fate, sitting down next to the asshole. They were probably going to be getting plenty close this next week, mind as well get used to it. When he sat, Barnes shifted to give him more room or maybe to just get away. When he was comfortable, Clint took his first sip of coffee. He was fairly sure the sounds he made belonged in a porno but it wasn’t his fault. He couldn’t be held responsible because he had raided Coulson’s stash and everyone knew Coulson had the best coffee ever. Clint’s ass was toast when the man found out and he would but he deserved it for making Clint play nice.

“Damn this is good,” Clint said, breaking the silence. Because Barnes was just staring at him. Possibly with envy.

“Sounds like it.”

Hell yeah fucker was jealous. Clint was smirking through the rest of the briefing.

XXX

26 hours later he had lost the smirk. Clint was stuck in a hotel room in London, listening to the occupants next door bang.

Barnes hadn’t said anything non-mission related since they left the briefing. What right did he have to hate Clint? Clint hated him first and with reason. so, how the fuck did he get off acting like Clint wasn’t worth talking to? Wasn’t that the point of this hellish mission? Well, screw him double and sideways. Clint could be silent too, he could do silent even better.

It’s just that the silence didn’t even seem to bother Barnes. He was just sitting there, going over their equipment. Equipment, by the way, that Clint had already gone over. Also, the people next door were still going at it and he was starting to think they were less arms dealers and more just honeymooners.

He was bored,a man could only play so much Candy Crush. Clint was starting to think Barnes was really a robot; the man moved from task to task and once they were all done just sat down to listen to the next room through freaking headphones. Clint was pretty sure if he could hear them fucking through the wall then a freaking super soldier should be able to as well. All the noise must sound like a hurricane to Barnes through the headphones. For a moment he felt bad for the guy before remembering what an asshole he was. Clint just turned down his aids, he wouldn’t take them out during a mission even if it was a bull shit one but he sure as hell didn’t need to hear this. Finally, the peaceful kind of silence and he closed his eyes to take a nap.

Clint work up some time later and upon turning back up his aids, discovered the shower running. The occupants next door were still at it so it seemed, he could still hear low grunts. After a few minor adjustments, he realized the noises weren’t coming from next door but rather from the shower in the room.

Holy Christ on a pancake. Barnes was rubbing one out. Looked like he was human after all. Clint may hate the guy but after a serious dry spell, it sounded hot as hell.

He had seen Barnes around the tower shirtless from runs with Steve to know he was built. Clint could imagine that big hand wrapped around a fat dick. Or maybe he would use the metal hand. That would probably feel so good, cool metal on hot flesh. 

Aww dick no, now was not the time to get hard.

Clint heard a final low moan and then the shower switched off a few seconds later. He had moments before Barnes walked out and found out about Clint’s not insignificant problem. He was momentarily distracted by a fantasy of Barnes walking out in and dropping to his knees to help Clint out. He would love to see that mouth wrapped around him. The door opening brought everything crashing back to reality. Clint just flipped over to his belly. And that hurt to much to completely stifle the low grunt that came out.

Clint saw the moment Barnes realized he was awake. Barnes froze and all the blood left his face, even in the dark Clint could tell the guy looked scared.

Later he wouldn’t be able to say why he did for a guy he hated but instead of pointing out Barnes’ fading boner, Clint spoke loudly.

“Can I take the nest shower?” Then he reached up to pretend to fiddle with his aids. “Sorry my aids were off, was I loud?”

“You’re fine,” Barnes ground out and finally started moving.  
“You better not of used all the hot water,” Clint groused as he moved past Barnes.

“Don’t worry Princess, I left you the fine soaps. Wouldn’t want the hot water to burn your delicate skin.”

It was the most he’d heard Barnes say. Ever. And damn but the asshole was funny.

“Hell yeah I’m the mother fuckin princess. Bow down,” Clint joked back. He immediately regretted it when he had a flash of Barnes on his knees.

Barnes smirked, “You wish.”

“That an offer?” 

“You want it to be?”

Who had time for silly things like hate when a gorgeous assassin was a offering blow job?


End file.
